a Mirage of Trust, a Sideswipe of Betrayal and the Shutdown of Hope
by DatWritaDude
Summary: 3 years after the infamous 'Battle of Chicago', two Autobot survivors are in hiding from a military subdivision led by humans. However, they're not the only problem. It is rumored that a dangerous Cybertronian is also cooperating with them. This could be a life or death situation for not only these two, but for all Transformers that still remain functioning on Earth.
1. Hiding and Reminiscing

Authorz Note:

Hey mah fellow readerz! I hope you're all doing good. If you've just come from bio, well, I want to say thank you for taking the time to read about me and what I have planned! It means a lot. If you've just come by just to read a Transformers story, that's cool too! To start off, I just want to say thank you, again, for taking the time to read the first chapter of my very first story posted on this website! That also means a lot to me. If anything about the story seems off to you, the grammar could be improved upon, or anything like that, then just let me know by dropping a review or messaging me personally. Like I said before, I'm new here so I'd appreciate if you'd cut me some slack. Or you could just go the crazy ghetto route and be like "YO, WHAT IS UP WITH THIS STORY!? IT'S STRAIGHT GARBAGE, MAH BOI!". I'd prefer you to choose the more civilized route though, lol.

About the Plot:

As you've (hopefully) read by the summary, this story is about two Autobots who survived the battle now known to all as "the Battle of Chicago" and are on the run from a military subdivision led by humans. So, this tells you that this particular tale takes place after the events of the Transformers: Dark of the Moon film and before the events of the Transformers: Age of Extinction film. As the story progresses, the friendship between these two will be expanded on, you'll find out what military organization is after them, and also, what the identity of the "dangerous Cybertronian" is and why they're also chasing after the two robots in disguise. Who knows... There could also be a couple of Transformers easter eggs riddled throughout the story... Be sure to read carefully if you're on the lookout for them!

 **IMPORTANT NOTE** : **The Transformers; Dark of the moon video game (Xbox 360 and PS3 version) is in fact CANNON to this story.**

That's why you may find some unexpected things if you haven't played that game or have played it but just don't remember it's story. You DO NOT need to understand the plot of that game in order to make sense of mine but I just wanted to make that clear to avoid confusion. It's basically just a prequel to the DOTM movie. Also, some characters have been renamed for personal preference. If you're a Transformers fan, you'll most likely know who was renamed. If you're not, I'll explain who was renamed at the end of story.

So without further ado, I'll finally shut up and allow you to finally read upon my very first fanfic! I hope youz enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1 - Hiding and Reminiscing

"Calling all Autobots! We are under targeted attack! Cease all contact with humans!"

Detroit, September of 2013, 8:40 AM, two brave Autobots, Mirage and Sideswipe, are following the orders of a distress message sent by their leader and are hiding out in the parking lot of an abandoned housing project.

Sideswipe: "Your sensors pick up anything?"

Sideswipe asks Mirage, who is knelt down by the right side of the building. His position is right next to the entrance/exit to the parking lot.

Mirage: "No, not yet but don't get too comfortable. Those humans are out for Energon... Our Energon. I know for a fact that, they won't stop until we're a pile of dead metal on the ground."

Mirage peeks his head out, monitoring for any potential threats nearby.

Sideswipe: "Tsk! I'd love to see them try and take me!"

He deploys one of his swords and begins waving it around.

Sideswipe: "I'll slice them up if I have to! There's no way I'm going down! Not without a fight! If they want a piece of me, then they better come and get me!"

Mirage looks back at him.

Mirage: "Don't get too ahead of yourself. If we've spent enough time with those fleshes, we both know that they're extremely resilient. They see us all as a threat now. Factions don't matter to them anymore."

The stealthy Autobot explains to the disgruntled swordsman.

Sideswipe: "Grrr!"

Out of frustration, he kicks an abandoned car up in the air and slices it in half with his sword.

Mirage: "Sideswipe, you idiot! Calm down! You're going to attract unwanted attention!"

Sideswipe clutches his fists, and retracts his sword. He relaxes himself right after doing so.

Sideswipe: "Ugh. Sorry. It just... Pisses me off that, after all we've done, humans are hunting us. Even if you're the good guy, they still don't care. They'll cut your head off just to make sure you're not a potential threat to this planet."

Mirage tilts his head with curiosity.

Mirage: "That's a dark way of putting it. Also... Pisses you off? Is that a human phrase?"

Sideswipe: "Yeah. Learned it from Lennox when N.E.S.T was still around. He said that Charlotte Mearing lady was starting to 'piss him off'."

Sideswipe states, referring to the overbearing and strict U.S. Director of National Intelligence.

Mirage: "Oh... I think I heard Ironhide mention that one time. When Optimus was 'pissed' at the humans when they didn't tell us about the engine part that belonged to the Ark."

Mirage adds, mentioning the Autobot starship that was shot-down by the Decepticons and then later discovered on the Moon by NASA.

Sideswipe: "Hehe. Did he? I don't think I was there at that moment. Probably doing recon around Washington."

He says, crossing his arms.

Sideswipe: "Say... Whatever happened to that old 'Bot? I haven't seen him since we escorted that... Traitor... Back to the old base."

Mirage faces away for a moment and then hesitantly looks back.

Mirage: "He's... he's gone, Sideswipe. After the battle, Bumblebee later explained to me that our former 'leader' shot him with one of those Cosmic Rust cannons and he... Joined with the Allspark."

Sideswipe looks at him in shock and puts his arms down.

Sideswipe: "... What? H-How didn't I know about this!? The old lug is... Dead!?"

Mirage slowly nods his head.

Mirage: "You didn't know about it because we were told to go back on recon shortly after we escorted that disgraceful tin-can back to the old base."

Sideswipe: "So... While we were out searching for Decepticons, our former 'leader' killed one of our greatest allies and became the real threat to us all."

Mirage: "Unfortunately, that was case. We... We've lost a lot of friends over the years."

Sideswipe: "No kidding... Jazz, Arcee, Chromia, Elita 1, that old 'Con turned 'Bot; Jetfire, Jolt, the Aerial-Bots, Warpath, the Twins, those little guys that used to be 'Cons, Wheeljack..."

Mirage: "Wheeljack... Poor old spark."

Sideswipe: "He's never caused anybody harm... He's never even fought in the battlefield before."

As he remembers the destruction of his old friend, Sideswipe starts shaking with anger and deploys both of his swords.

Sideswipe: "If Barricade managed to slip from the N.E.S.T's grasp, I'll find him and slice him apart! Limb from limb! Mark my words! You hear me, Barricade!? You're fragged for what you did to-"

Mirage stands up and smacks Sideswipe in the face. As he's causing too much noise by shouting and is putting them both at risk of being discovered.

Mirage: "Shut up! I'll slice YOU apart before those humans catch us again! Mark MY words!"

The irritated spy swears... Or so he made it seem. Sideswipe stares at him for a bit, retracts his swords and pushes him back in frustration.

Sideswipe: "Hmph."

Mirage turns around and goes back to monitoring for Cemetery Wind, as he kneels down, they both hear a loud, high-pitched engine sound nearby.

Mirage: "What!? Humans!?"

He looks around, while scanning the area frantically.

Sideswipe: "Man, this whole area is abandoned! Why would there be humans here?"

Mirage: "They're searching every spot on this planet for Transformers! It would be no surprise that they'd be here, looking for us."

As quietly as he can, Mirage climbs up the project, kneels down on top the roof, and surveys the area from a better position.

Sideswipe: "You see anything outta the ordinary?"

After scanning the area for a good amount of time, Mirage shakes his head.

Mirage: "... Nothing. Hmph."

The red Autobot jumps down from the roof to confront the silver Autobot.

Mirage: "You got off lucky, hot-head."

He points his finger at him, as he makes his point.

Mirage: "I get that you're upset, we both are, but you need to control that temper of yours! It'll get us both killed!"

Mirage cautions Sideswipe. Knowing that his companion is right, the swordsman nods his head in agreement.

Sideswipe: "... My bad... I know I should but, well you know..."

His red partner nods his head as well.

Sideswipe: "I think we should be good for now though. Besides that noise, there hasn't been anything suspicious for hours. Let's just power-down for a bit."

He reluctantly concours with Sideswipe.

Mirage: "Fine... But only for a little while. I don't want us to let our guards down for too long."

He walks to the wall next to him and sits down against it while Sideswipe seats himself next to him.

Sideswipe: "So... Do you wanna talk about anything?"

Mirage looks at him, annoyed.

Mirage: "That's exactly what we shouldn't be doing. We should be as quiet as possible to avoid detection."

Sideswipe flails his hands out in annoyance.

Sideswipe: "Oh, come on! Like I said, there shouldn't be anyone around. A little chit chat won't hurt anyone."

Mirage rolls his optics at Sideswipe's insistence.

Mirage: "Fine..."

The silver swordsman nods at his red spy friend's response.

Sideswipe: "So... What should we talk about?"

Mirage shrugs.

Mirage: " I don't know... I'm too pressured by this whole situation to process clearer."

Sideswipe thinks to himself for a bit.

Sideswipe: "Hm... Wanna talk about past missions we've completed?"

Mirage takes a moment to make his decision.

Mirage: "Um... Alright, sure. Keep your voice at a low. We're in hiding, don't forget that."

Sideswipe nods his head.

Sideswipe: "Hm... Oh. Remember when you first came to Earth? Prime wanted me to help you search for a vehicle mode?"

Mirage: "... Can you consider that a... Mission?"

The spy questions the sword-wielder's query.

Sideswipe: "Well, there was an objective, wasn't there? To find you a vehicle mode."

Sideswipe explains.

Mirage: "... I suppose you're right."

Sideswipe: "Yeah, I'm right!"

Mirage: "Hehe. Yeah, I remember that."

He recollects his first journey on Earth out loud.

Mirage: "On my way to Earth, my asteroid form was hit by an incoming 'satellite' headed in my direction and I was set off course from where you all were. I think I landed in... Italy? I believe that's what the humans call that place."

Sideswipe: "Yeah, I think so. I ended up having Stratosphere flying me to where you were at. It was a long flight, I'll tell you tha- Oh man. He's another one I forgot perished."

Mirage, saddened, looks away for a moment.

Sideswipe: "Sorry for killing the mood... Won't happen again."

The swordsman holds his shoulder-piece with guilt.

Sideswipe: "... But anyway, you remember the place where we found your ride at?"

The spy looks back and thinks for a second.

Mirage: "Hm... Yeah, yeah. In the parking lot of this giant, expensive looking mansion. I think the owner was having a party or something."

Sideswipe nods his head.

Sideswipe: "Yup. Remember when we were hiding behind those trees? At one point, you were about to scan a white and blue... Formula One race car? That was on display? I'm not that familiar with human car brands."

Mirage chuckles and nods his head.

Mirage: "Until we saw this flashy red beauty driving up to the mansion. The second I saw it, I fell in love with it and instantly scanned it. I still love it to this day."

He lightly bangs on the headlights on his chest with his right fist.

Sideswipe: "The driver of it was freaking out so bad, that he got outta the car and started actin' crazy. Hehehe... Man... I remember it like it was yesterday."

Mirage: "Time goes by fast... Too fast."

Sideswipe: "You could say that again, bro."

Mirage once again questions Sideswipe's vocabulary.

Mirage: "... Bro?"

Sideswipe: "Heh. Human talk. Short for brother."

Mirage: "Oh. Hehe."

The red Autobot deploys his blades and begins to sharpen them on each other.

Sideswipe: "Hm... I'm trying to think of another mission we were on."

Mirage attempts to reminisce about other tasks completed in the past, as he messes around with his weapons.

Mirage: "What about... Oh! Haha."

Sideswipe looks at him with curiosity.

Sideswipe: "What? What's so funny?"

Mirage faces toward him and laughs again.

Mirage: "What about the time you got captured by those Decepticons in that jungle? Bee and I had charge through a hoard of cannon fodder to find you."

Sideswipe: "Huh? What you talkin' about? I don't remember that..."

He says, Looking away. Acting like he doesn't remember.

Mirage: "Hehe. Yes, you do. You were trapped in a cage on that Mayan temple. We had to fight this beastly Dread that came outta nowhere just to break you out. He wasn't so tough."

Sideswipe shakes his head.

Sideswipe: "You sure you ain't going crazy, bro? I don't remember anything like-"

Mirage: "I remember the exact words you said once we freed you. Something like..."

Mirage imitates Sideswipe's voice.

Mirage: "Feels good to be outta that thing!"

Sideswipe nervously rubs his head-gasket and laughs.

Sideswipe: "Ok, ok, you got me. I remember that. But hey, 'least we got to kick a certain Air-Commander's turbine right after you broke me outta jail."

Mirage: "Oh yeah... Starscream."

He crosses his arms.

Mirage: "He got what he deserved in the end. The things he's done to Autobots in the past... Absolutely horrific."

The saddened Autobot tilts his head down, recollecting the friends he's lost in the War for Cybertron.

Mirage: "I hate to mention this but... I heard that he was the one that blasted Stratosphere and the Aerial-Bots outta the sky..."

The swordsman looks down for a bit, as he's heard of that news as well. He sighs and looks back up.

Sideswipe: "Plus, didn't you say one time that he tried to destroy you by throwing you off an old bridge? Heh... Good to know that you're made of sterner stuff."

Mirage softly chuckles at Sideswipe's comment. Afterwards, he sighs and lifts his head back up.

Mirage: "... Optimus. I hope he's alright. He sounded worried in that message."

Sideswipe: "Yeah. I haven't seen him since 'they' raided N.E.S.T back in Washington. And that was awhile ago."

Mirage: "Same here. After the betrayal of that... Coward and the invasion, he's had it with about everything."

Sideswipe: "I know... But you have to remember, this is Optimus Prime we're talking about! The last of the Primes, the keeper of the great Matrix of Leadership, the leader of the free galaxy... The Leader of the Autobots! The High Council didn't turn him into a Prime for nothing. He wasn't awarded the most powerful artifact known in existence just for kicks. He got that stuff because his words moved others. Because he knows what's right and what's not. When to fight and when not to. That's why he sports the mighty name that he's well-known for..."

Mirage stares at him for a bit, astonished by his... Oddly intelligent monologuing.

Sideswipe: "What? Oh. I may have... Studied a little bit about him back on Cybertron."

Mirage: "Ha! You? Studying about someone? Scratch that, you studying at all!? That's unheard of. Considering how much of a loose-cannon you are."

Sideswipe: "Yeah, well. Prime's worthy enough for me to study. Only people I ever study are 'badasses'. As the humans would say."

Mirage rolls his optics.

Mirage: "Hehe... You're right though. Optimus is our leader for a reason. And we can't forget that. No matter what happens."

Sideswipe looks at him and smiles a bit.

Sideswipe: "Heh. Whatever you say, bro."

The red spy responds the way his ally would.

Mirage: "Uh huh... Bro."

He stands up and retracts his blades.

Mirage: "I'm gonna get back to monitoring for fleshes. If you wanna help, be my guest."

Sideswipe nods his head in agreement.

Sideswipe: "I'll watch our backs from above. You cover the entrance."

*Sideswipe stands up, climbs the project, kneels down and watches for Cemetery Wind. While Mirage kneels down and leans against his usual spot at the entrance/exit to the lot.*

Mirage: "Hopefully we'll be out of here soon and finally get the chance to meet up with our brothers again. If they're still alive..."

To be continued...

* * *

Authorz Note:

Well, that concludes the first chapter of "A Mirage of Trust, a Sideswipe of Betrayal, and the Shutdown of Hope". So, we saw a lot of bonding and tension between Autobots Mirage and Sideswipe here. That's what I mainly wanted to focus on in this chapter. In my opinion, they're two of the most coolest but unfortunately underutilized characters in the Michael Bay live action movies. These two have such cool designs as well as abilities. Unfortunately, they were limited to being background characters with not much impact to the plots of their respected movies. With this story, I wanted to do just that. Make them into actual characters with their own personalities and give them purpose to the plot. When it comes to how they act, I actually took inspiration from the DOTM video game which, as I said earlier, is cannon to this. I really like how their voice actors portrayed these two. Mirage is the fairly level-headed spy while Sideswipe is the hot-headed warrior. Which I feel is fitting for them. Despite their differences, they work well as a team and have a sort of "Brothers-in-arms" relationship. Which will be more evident later on...

Characters Renamed: These character were renamed for personal preference. Why? I felt as if their original names don't sound very "Transformer" like, so I gave them names from the original G1 series. Why? They both take inspiration from their G1 forms and were also named that way in the DOTM video game.

Dino - Mirage

Que - Wheeljack

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and (If I get enough people wanting this), I will post the second chapter this Friday! Be sure to leave a review to let me know what you thought so far! Keep it civil though. For now, take care mah fellow readerz!

* * *

Transformers and all related characters belong to Hasbro. This story was written solely for entertainment and I do not make a profit off it.


	2. Someone That All Cybertronians Fear

Authorz Note:

Hey, mah fellow readez! I hope you're all doing good!

As I mentioned in Chapter 1, If I had anyone interested enough in that chapter, I promised that I would be posting Chapter 2 of my Mirage and Sideswipe story! Luckily, I got two people interested in my story! One who favorited it and one who's following it! I want to thank mary123ciel and Curious Taker along with every other viewer for taking the time to read my amatuer Tranformer story! It's very much appreciated! I hope you don't mind the shoutout. I'm hoping that more people will take interest in this story as well in the future!

I know the first chapter may have been a bit slow and had a lot of dialogue, but I promise that this chapter will definitely kick it up a notch or two! Look forward to that! I know you came to read about transforming robots taking on human soldiers, so I hope this chapter doesn't dissapoint! If does, well… Sorry. Lol. But I'll shut up now and let you read Chapter 2 of a "Mirage of Trust, A Sideswipe of Betrayal, and the Shutdown of Hope!" Enjoy dis thang!

* * *

Chapter 2 - Someone That All Cybertronians Fear

After taking time to reminisce about the past, the Autobots, Mirage and Sideswipe, resume monitoring for threats within the local area of their hiding spot. However, they're not alone. Armored vehicles, outfitted with engines to match the speeds of super-cars, quietly pull up to the old building while soldiers on foot take position inside and around the housing project their targets are hiding in. They load up their weapons, ranging from custom-made rifles made to pierce through the metal of Cybertronians to RPGs, designed and manufactured by an 'unknown company' that are powerful enough to instantly blow up and destroy any Transformer it comes into contact with. The team aim their sights on the two robots, ready for anything to happen.

C.W. Soldier: "Commander, we're all in position. Ready to strike at your command."

The Cemetery Wind soldier says. He adjusts his tripod so that his sniper rifle is able sit on it.

Com. Savoy: "Not yet."

Their Commander, James Savoy, puts his hand on the soldier's rifle. Not ready to move forward with their plan. They, along with even more soldiers, are currently inside the center part of the housing project. Which happens to be a hallway.

C.W. Soldier: "Huh? What is it, sir?"

The soldier questions his Commander's hesitancy. After looking out of the window in front of them to peer at the red Autobot, Savoy turns his head to look at his fellow soldier.

Com. Savoy: "We need to lure them towards the center of the parking lot first. They're too scattered."

Savoy explains. He looks around the floor and finds an old, rusted Coca-Cola can.

Com. Savoy: "We'll use this as bait."

The soldier looks at his commanding officer, confused.

C.W. Soldier: "Oh. We've never done this before. It's out of standard procedure."

Savoy picks up the can and examines it.

Com. Savoy: "We're anything but conventional, soldier."

The Cemetery Wind Commander states to the young member. He turns on his earpiece to speak to rest of the group, who're also awaiting his command.

Com. Savoy: "All units, new strategy. We're going to lure the aliens toward the center of the parking lot. I'm going to throw a soda can outside the window in front of me and it's going to land right smack in the axis of the lot. Once they look at it or pick it up, I'm going to give the go ahead. Understood?"

All of the Cemetery Wind units respond by saying things like '10-4' and 'Got it, Savoy'.

Com. Savoy: "Good."

Savoy adjusts his aim so that closet Autobot will be able to 'hear' it make contact with the ground.

Com. Savoy: "Throwing it now."

He throws it out as far as he can and it hits the ground, making a light metal sound.

Mirage: "What?"

The red spy turns around and sees the can laying on the ground.

Mirage: "Hm..."

He stands up, slowly walks over to the can, and scans it.

Mirage: "Strange..."

The other Autobot skates over to the edge of building and kneels down.

Sideswipe: "What is it?"

The silver swordsman asks. Mirage picks up the can and shows it to Sideswipe.

Sideswipe: "Huh..."

Out of curiosity, he slides off the building to take a closer look at the object. Causing debris to fall onto the ground, making a lot of noise. Mirage gives him a 'really, bruh?' look because of that.

Sideswipe: "Oh shoot. My bad."

Sideswipe affirms. Mirage rolls his optics and looks at the can once again.

Mirage: "There hasn't been anything for awhile now and all of a sudden, this thing comes outta nowhere?"

Mirage questions, as he hands it over to Sideswipe.

Sideswipe: "That's weird. Where'd it come from anyway?"

*The Autobot looks up at the project and sees rifles pointed all around him. As he spots them, red laser pointers activate from their rifles and proceed to light up the swordsman and the spy. The latter has yet to notice this.

Sideswipe: "U-Uh... Mirage?"

Mirage looks at Sideswipe to answer his question. He has taken notice to the sword-wielding Autobot's worried tone and questions him about it.

Mirage: "What is it?"

Sideswipe points at the housing project's windows in front them. The spy looks up to see hundreds of Cemetery Wind units armed with laser pointed rifles. He looks down at the lasers lighting him up for a moment and then back at the human soldiers. For a moment, they lock eyes to optics and have stare-down with each other. It's an intense moment... Which then escalates even further.

Com. Savoy: "OPEN FIRE!"

The Commander shouts at the top of his lungs. He points toward them and every single unit of the subdivision commence firing at the two Autobots.

Both Autobots: "Woah!"

They both jump as fast as they can out of the way of the deadly Anti-Cybertronian bullets being fired at them.

Sideswipe: "Ugh! Mirage, over here!"

The Autobot on wheels rolls over and takes cover behind an abandoned box truck.

Sideswipe: "Freakin' humans! How'd they find us!?"

*Sideswipe questions, absolutely furious. Mirage activates his cloaking ability and runs over to the angered swordsman.*

Mirage: "I knew you were making too much noise! You fragging idiot!"

The spy accuses, as he deploys his blades. He's still cloaked as he does so.

Sideswipe: "Hey, you were talkin' just as much as me, man! Don't blame all this crap on me!"

The silver Autobot redirects, deploying his swords.

Mirage: "Grrr! You and your human slang!"

Mirage punches the box truck out of frustration and accidentally bends the gasoline tank. This catches his attention and he takes a closer look at it.

Mirage: "Huh? Wait..."

Out of curiosity, he slices it in half with his right blade, causing gas to spill out.

Mirage: "I have an idea! Grab the other side of the truck!"

Sideswipe nods, retracts his swords, and grabs the backside of the truck.

Mirage: "On my count, we're going to throw this at them and the line of fire should ignite that substance leaking out!"

Sideswipe is surprised at Mirage's idea.

Sideswipe: "Not a bad idea, 'rage! Alright then, let's do a countdown."

The red Autobot nods his head and the two begin counting down.

Mirage: "1..."

Sideswipe: "2..."

Mirage: "3!"

They lift up the truck and throw it towards the old building. The gunfire does as Mirage thought it would and ignites the gasoline, while the truck is still hurtling toward the housing project.

Com. Savoy: "Woah! Fall back, fall back!"

The Cemetery Wind Commander orders. Some units manage to make a break for it... But not everyone was so lucky. As the truck hits the building, it causes a huge explosion.

Both Autobots: "Ngh!"

They cover their optics from the blast. To their surprise, more gunfire emerges from the sides of the building.

Sideswipe: "Ugh!"

The swordsman uses his weapons as cover from the gunfire. Luckily, it doesn't cause pain while doing so, as his swords are only attachments to himself.

Sideswipe: "Man, if only I had my freakin' blasters right now!"

Mirage performs a roll, jumps up and kicks a bunch of soldiers, that are standing in front of windows, out of the building.

Mirage: "All of our weapons were destroyed when the old N.E.S.T HQ was raided, remember!? Hmph!"

Mirage reminds Sideswipe of the time Cemetery Wind were "ordered by the government" to storm into and take over their old base back in Washington D.C. Afterwards, Sideswipe deploys his swords again and sticks them through a row of windows.

Sideswipe: "Dammit, man! There's gotta be a way to- Ugh!"

A couple of the bullets manage to pierce through his metal, causing the Autobot much agony.

Sideswipe: "-Bring them all down!"

As the bullet-shells fall to the ground, the swordsman notices exposed pillars holding the building up. Starting from the left all the way to the right side of the housing project.

Sideswipe: "Huh!? Hm..."

Looks at his swords, smirks, and then looks back at the red spy.

Sideswipe: "You ain't the only one coming up with plans today, bro! Look!"

Sideswipe shakes his head towards the pillars. Mirage discovers his meaning behind his plan and nods his head. Understanding what he's about to do.

Mirage: "About time you used that empty head-gasket of yours! Let's do this!"

One of the Cemetery Wind units notices the two Autobots' discussion and informs his commanding officer about it.

C.W. Soldier: "Sir, the targets seem to be planning something! I'm not sure what!"

Savoy, stepping into an SUV, turns on his earpiece and responds to the concerned soldier.

Com. Savoy: "Proceed with caution! These alien invaders are really subtle! Especially when it comes to planning things!"

Sideswipe puts his swords behind his back and begins skating toward the pillars on the left.

Sideswipe: "Hope you fleshes don't plan on moving up in life!"

After he's at a good amount of distance, he sticks his swords out

Sideswipe: "Cause you mofos are going DOWN!"

He twirls a couple of times and cuts the exposed pillars holding the floors up, from the left all the way to the right. Which causes all levels of the housing project to to fall down.

C.W. Soldiers: "AHHHHH!"

The remaining soldiers inside the complex fall with the floors and hit the ground, hard. As the two Autobots survey the destruction, it seems that none of them survived the fall.

Sideswipe: "Hmph! I don't play! Any of you skin-jobs want a piece of me, I'm right here!"

Sideswipe brags, sticking his swords up in the air because of his 'victory'. However, out of nowhere, dark grey SUVs armed with turrets pull up to the entrance of the parking lot and block their path.

Mirage: "You just had to open your mouth..."

Mirage says, annoyed at Sideswipe's bragging... As well as his jinxing. The SUVs open fire upon them, deactivating Mirage's cloaking ability in the process.

Mirage: "Ngh! Hmph!"

Mirage sticks his blades up and actually manages to cut most of the bullets with his blades. An amazing ability indeed, considering how small the bullets are compared to his weapons.

Sideswipe: "Back off!"

The silver Autobot kicks some debris off the ground and towards one of the SUVs, knocking it back and injuring those inside.

Com. Savoy: "Soldier, ready that weapon!"

Savoy angrily commands one of his units. However, the soldier hesitates due to an important fact.

C.W. Soldier: "But sir, it's never been tested in the field before!"

Savoy grabs him by his uniform and brings him closer to his face.

C.W. Soldier: "You think that matters when aliens are attacking!? I lost a sister because of aliens like those and I'll be damned if I let them get away with that! Load up that rocket and fire away!"

The overwhelmed soldier reluctantly nods his head, loads up the RPG, and aims it at the Autobots.

Com. Savoy: "NOW!"

He hesitantly pulls the trigger and fires it the weapon. However, that hesitation, along with the force from the rocket, causes it to shoot towards the ground in front of the Autobots, instead of hitting the two directly.

Both of them: "Ngh!"

Both robots get launched back into the building behind them, with debris tumbling down and falling ontop them. Savoy sighs in relief and basks in their 'victory'.

Com. Savoy: "Finally..."

He looks at the soldier and puts his hand on his shoulder.

Com. Savoy: "You did good today, son."

The Cemetery Wind Commander takes a radio out of his pocket and informs the person behind all this of their 'accomplishment'.

Com. Savoy: "Attinger, mission accomplished. We're bringing in the remains now-"

Before any of the Cemetery Wind units can react, Mirage and Sideswipe jump out of the building, transform into their 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia and 2009 Corvette Stingray Speedster modes respectively and floor it out of the parking lot. Shocking all members of the human subdivision.

Com. Savoy: "What!? How did they!? G-Grrr!"

He quickly informs his men of their current predicament.

Com. Savoy: "All units! Targets are on the move! Get in the trucks and follow them!"

After commanding his unit to pursue them, he switches frequencies to speak with... Someone that all Cybertronians fear.

Com. Savoy: "They're getting away... We blew our chance... We need your assistance..."

A mysterious dark grey super-car pulls out of an alleyway nearby, revving it's high-pitched sounding engine.

?: "I figured you would, human. It was predictable that you would fail... It's in your species' nature."

The Cemetery Wind SUVs floor it in pursuit of our heroes and following behind them, is their new 'asset'.

Mirage: "Make a left here!"

They're about to come up to a sharp turn right beside the old housing project.

Sideswipe: "Got it!"

They both simultaneously drift the corner and continue driving straight toward an industrial park.

Com. Savoy: "They made a left! Go, go, GO!"

Their pursuers make the left as well, tailgating each other in the process.

Sideswipe: "Damn, they're right on us!"

The swordsman adjusts his mirrors to get a better visual of them.

Sideswipe: "We gotta shake 'em, man! We need another one of those plans of yours!"

Sideswipe drifts under the silver trailer of a red flat-nosed truck. One of the SUVs maneuvers around the other side of the truck to catch up to Sideswipe, but the silver Corvette ends up spinning it off the road.

Mirage: "I'm processing, I'm processing! Give me a minute!"

Two of the SUVs attempt to box the red Ferrari in, but he brakes just in time, causing them to crash into each other instead.

Sideswipe: "No, you don't!"

One of them tries to pin the swordsman against a guardrail, but he boosts forward out of the way before that could happen.

Mirage: "Hold on..."

The red super-car sees an old factory to his right and makes a break for it.

Mirage: "Head for the factory to your right!"

Mirage drives up a ramp that crosses through an old truck depot next to factory.

Sideswipe: "Hm!"

He swerves around multiple abandoned trucks scattered all throughout the depot.

Com. Savoy: "Move, move! Watch out! You almost hit that truck, dammit!"

Savoy shouts, as they also drive through the depot. Mirage leaps off a ramp and smashes through the glass of the factory, as does Sideswipe and their pursuers.

Sideswipe: "Ugh!"

Sideswipe gets rear-ended and almost loses control.

Com. Savoy: "Don't ram them! SHOOT THEM!"

After that order, soldiers sitting in the back of the SUVs climb up to the turrets ontop of their vehicles and begin firing at them again.

Sideswipe: "Grah! Ngh... T-That's it. You've asked for it..."

The bullets pierce through Sideswipe's metal again. Causing him even more pain.

Com. Savoy: "USE THE RPG!"

One of the soldiers sticks his body out of the window of his SUV and fires a rocket at Sideswipe. He drifts out of the way just in time, activates his Stealth Force mode, which is loaded with countless blasters and rockets, and blows up a good amount of the SUVs. He then reverts back to his normal vehicle form afterwards.

Mirage: "Good thinking! Hm..."

The red Autobot spy spots a large hook protruding from the roof of the factory.

Mirage: "Got another idea! You drive out first!"

Sideswipe floors it past Mirage, who then transforms and attaches his one hook to the one protruding from the roof and the other to axles of the SUVs chasing him.

Mirage: "Got ya! Ahahaha!"

Mirage detaches his hooks as they're still connected to their targets, which then pulls the pursuing vehicles up to the roof and dangles them from above. Scaring the soldiers inside as they hold on for dear life.

Sideswipe: "Heh! That's the sickest thing I've seen all day! Nice work!"

Mirage transforms back into his vehicle form and afterwards, he and Sideswipe smash through the glass on the other side of the factory, leaving the remaining SUVs in the dust. As Sideswipe renters outside, he notices a car-carrier parked to his left.

Sideswipe: "Huh? Hehe... Just to make sure."

He clips the side of the trailer, which causes all the cars ontop of the carrier to fall off and block the exit of the factory.

Sideswipe: "Heh! 'Least that's over with..."

In his rear view mirror, he sees Mirage boosting past him. But in the background, he spots another robot smashing through the pile of fallen cars, which then performs a roll, and transforms into a 2013 Lamborghini Aventador. It begins chasing after the two.

Mirage: "Sideswipe... Scan that car behind you.*

Sideswipe performs a full scan on the vehicle... And makes a horrifying discover about its' true identity.

Sideswipe: "Uh... That ain't no ordinary ride... And it ain't one of ours either.*

Mirage adjusts his rear view mirror and sees both Sideswipe and the mysterious Lamborghini.

Mirage: "What is it? Tell me!"

Sideswipe catches up to the red Ferrari.

Sideswipe: "You don't wanna know! Trust me! Just keep on driving as fast as you can!"

Sideswipe drifts left onto another street while Mirage follows close behind.

?: "You're not getting away from me, Autobots!"

Cemetery Wind's 'asset' drifts the corner as well and deploys a cannon ontop of his roof.

Sideswipe: "O-Oh scrap!"

The cannon fires powerful missiles at both of them, hitting them directly onto their vehicle forms and causing them to swerve violently.

Mirage: "Ugh! Ngh! Ah!"

He drives out of the radius of the cannon by driving behind a concrete wall.

Sideswipe: "Hm!"

Sideswipe drives up a ramp leading to the edge of a crane and leaps off it.

?: "Showing off will not aid you in your escape, Autobots"

The dark grey super-car transforms into his robot mode, jumps up and shoots Sideswipe in mid-air as well as Mirage, while he was driving toward a dead end. This causes their vehicles modes to fly straight into the wall of an old storage facility.

?: "Truly a pitiful display..."

He lands on the ground after his leap. His right hand transforms into a spark-extractor and he begins to walk towards the injured Autobots. As he does, the remaining Cemetery Wind soldiers pull up to the location.

Com. Savoy: "Good work. We'll take it from here.*

They get out of their vehicles and begin to walk toward their targets, but the merciless robot blocks their path with his weapon.

?: "You fleshings have interfered enough for one day. You've gotten in the way of my missions and I too many times since my arrival on this planet... and I do not have time for distractions."

Savoy looks up at him, annoyed.

Com. Savoy: "We had a deal! This our fight too! We've been tracking them down for two years now! I didn't lose half of my men to let YOU finish them off!"

The mysterious robot looks down at them and rests his weapon onto his other hand, intimidatingly.

?: "Leave now. Before I finish off the other half. And trust me, I will make it hurt. These two are mine and mine alone... If I end up dismantling them, you may have whatever scrap-metal is left."

Savoy, furious with uncooperative alien robot, decides to leave with the rest of his team in their trucks. To avoid further conflicts that may occur.

Mirage: "U-Ugh..."

The wounded spy attempts to stand up but immediately falls down to his knees.

Sideswipe: "N-Ngh... H-Hold on.*

The silver swordsman helps his fellow Autobot back on his feet.

Sideswipe: "I-I got you.*

He helps him walk out of the facility. They're both badly damaged and smoking a lot.

?: "Autobots... Finally. We meet face to face at last."

The menacing Transformer walks toward them and reloads his weapon, which causes spikes to extend from it. Once the Autobots manage to get a good look at their attacker, they immediately recognize who he is... And who they're dealing with.

Mirage: "L-Lockdown... What're you doing here? On... E-Earth?"

The mercenary stops a good distance from them.

Lockdown: "To reclaim what our 'creators' have built. Spare yourselves the trouble of perishing and tell me where he's hiding..."

Sideswipe spits out Energon and chuckles a bit at Lockdown's threatening demeanor... Which is absolutely unwise of him.

Sideswipe: "It'd be nice if you were a little more... S-Specific, bounty hunter."

Lockdown becomes irritated at the two and looks them both directly in their optics.

Lockdown: "You both know EXACTLY who I'm referring to... I'll ask one last time... Where is Optimus Prime?"

To be continued...

* * *

Authorz Note:

Well, that concludes Chapter 2, "Someone that All Cybertronians Fear". Told you this joint would be kicked up a notch or two! At least a 'lil bit, right?

Well, as you (Again, hopefully you read), Cemetery Wind finally revealed themselves and attacked our bois Mirage and Sideswipe. Right after that were having a nice chat about the past! What kind of crap is that!? Those guys are disrespectful asf! This caused the two Autobots to engage the human subdivision and eventually, escape from their grasp. However, those humans weren't the only ones after our robotic heroes. A certain bounty hunter from Cybertron emerged from the… alleways… and attacked the two. Leaving them injured and at HIS mercy. If he even has any.

What's the fate… Or "fates" of our two heroes after this? Find in in the next chapter which'll hopefully be arriving soon! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned and take care mah fellow readerz!

* * *

Transformers and all related characters belong to Hasbro. This story was written solely for entertainment and I do not make a profit off it.


	3. The Fates of our Robotic Heroes (Part 1)

Authorz Note:

Wuzz good mah fellow readerz? Hope you're all doing well.

Before we begin, I'd like to thank boss70524 for being the second person to follow this story! Thanks a lot, bro! It means a lot. I think in the future, I may give shoutouts to those who either follow my stories or favorite them. Do you guys like that idea? Or do you think it's kinda wack? Lemme know with a review or if you want, you can send a message to this account!

Anyway, we're finally nearing the end of 'A Mirage of Trust, a Sideswipe of betrayal, and the Shutdown of Hope'. I know this story overall isn't as long as some of you may have wanted it to be, but that should hopefully change with stories in the near future. I'm not saying every story I make will be long, but I'll try my best to make some of my joints a decent amount of pages. Be prepared for a lot of action, as this chapter is jammed packed with ass whoopings, face whoopings, and all kinds of physical whoopings! As well as moments that may pull at your heartstrings. Mirage and Sideswipe are now in more danger than they've ever been, even more so then previous events. Now, they must give it all they got to make their way to victory... Or perish trying. You may wanna re-read that last bit. Could be important 😉.

Just to quickly explain things that I should've already, I want to address some words and phrases that you might not understand if you're not a Transformer fan. Or just not familiar with the sayings even if you are a fan. The biology of the Transformers share many similarities with the biology of humans (to an extent, obviously. I mean, we ain't made of metal and filled with gearz!) but they tend to have different names for things such as their bodies, limbs, eyes, etc. So, I just want to quickly list what specific body parts are called in the world of Transformers. As well as certain phrases they say.

•The Body - the Husk

•Head/Forehead - Head-Gasket

•Neck - Neck-Guard

•Brain - Brain-Module

•Eyes - Optics

•Shoulder-Piece - Shoulder

•Energon - Blood/Fuel

•Tailpipe/Turbine - Booty

•Processing - Thinking

•Joining with the Allspark - Dying/Moving on to the next life

•Till all are one - Till are joined within the Allspark (I believe that's what that means, somethin' along those lines*

Now that, that's outta the way, I'll shut my ass up and let you all read the... 'Final'... Part of my story! Make sure to read all the way to other "Authorz Note' to get a better understanding of what to expect!

* * *

Chapter 3 - The Fates of our Robotic Heroes (Part 1)

After an intense and deadly chase from Cemetery Wind, Mirage and Sideswipe are blasted out of their vehicle modes and confronted by the deadliest bounty hunter to ever walk upon both Cybertron and Earth, the Transformer known as... Lockdown. He demands the location of their leader, Optimus Prime, but they will not budge. What will happen to our robotic heroes when faced against someone who 'easily' outmatches them? Only time will tell.

Sideswipe: "O-Optimus Prime? Is that one of 'em... Human-built car washes or somethin'?"

The silver swordsman asks, chuckling a bit.

Lockdown: "... So that's how it's going to be, huh, Autobot?"

The Cybertronian bounty hunter bounces his weapon in his hand, annoyed at the swordsman's childish humor.

Mirage: "U-Ugh... He's far away from you, mercenary. You won't get to him."

The injured red spy responds, holding his chest in pain. He along with Sideswipe are still recovering from the deadly blast fired from the bounty hunter's cannon.

Lockdown: "Ah, but you admit that you know where he is..."

The assassin smirks a bit, noticing that the Autobot spy is starting to slip up important information.

Mirage: "I-I never said... That."

Mirage replies. Lockdown begins walking toward them, menacingly, with his spark-extractor to his side.

Lockdown: "You seem to be the more reasonable one of the two of you."

He stops in his tracks and towers over the two robots, which frightens them a bit.

Lockdown: "Make your decision wisely. You either tell me the location of your leader... Or..."

The mercenary sticks his face as well his weapon into the red spy's face. He charges up his weapon, which glows from within, and points the barrel toward the injured Autobot.

Mirage: "Hmph..."

Mirage, still in pain, clutches his fists, put his foot forward and looks him directly in his optics.

Mirage: "Over my sparkless husk..."

He affirms, coldly. Lockdown stares at him, giving him the most menacing look possible.

Lockdown: "... That's the idea, Autobot."

He replies, deploying his battle-mask.

Lockdown: "Hmph!"

The killer robot quickly steps forward, grabs onto the spy's shoulder-piece with his left hand and impales Mirage in the chest with his weapon.

Mirage: "G-GAH!"

The heavily damaged Mirage holds Lockdown's weapon, trying to get it out of his husk.

Sideswipe: "MIRAGE! HMPH!"

The concerned Autobot deploys his swords once he witnesses this.

Sideswipe: "BACK OFF HIM, BOUNTY HUNTER FREAK!"

He jumps up, kicks Lockdown off of the red spy and attempts to stab him.

Lockdown: "Hm!"

The bounty hunter retaliates by grabbing him by his sword, dragging him across the ground and throwing him backwards.

Sideswipe: "Ngh!"

The silver warrior flips his husk around and lands on his tires.

Mirage: "U-Ugh... You!"

The injured Autobot takes his hand off of his chest, deploys his blades, jumps up and slices the bounty hunter in the center of his back.

Lockdown: "Ugh!"

The assassin stumbles forward forward, cringing from the pain inflicted on him.

Mirage: "... B-Bastard!"

The silver Autobot skates up beside him.

Sideswipe: "You alright man?"

The red spy nods his head in assurance.

Mirage: "F-Fine... I'll get fixed up later.*

He gets into a fighting stance and prepares himself for what's next.

Mirage: "For now, let's focus on taking him out!"

Sideswipe smirks.

Sideswipe: "Sounds good to me! It's cool to hear you using human slang too."

Sideswipe positions his swords to his sides.

Mirage: "It rubbed off on me. Now, enough talk. Let's get this over with."

Lockdown quickly turns around, reverting from his spark-extractor to his arm-cannon, and fires his weapon at the two.

Both Autobots: "Hmph!"

The brave Autobots dodge his firepower and run/skate toward him through the sidelines.

Lockdown: "Hm..."

The fierce bounty hunter looks to his right and sees Sideswipe skating towards him. He then looks to his left to where Mirage is, who's currently on the move as well. He processes to himself for a moment and comes up with a plan to counter them.

Lockdown: "Yes, Autobots. Come... To me!"

They approach the assassin and are about to attack him with their sharp melee weapons.

Sideswipe: "Pause on that! But if you say so!"

Sideswipe's swords are inches away from his face.

Mirage: "Today you fall before us, bounty hunter!"

Mirage's blades are even closer.

Lockdown: "I don't think so!"

Lockdown jumps up, fires his cannon at the ground and in doing so, causes the two to get blown backwards.

Both Autobots: "UGH!"

Sideswipe gets launched into the side of a building while Mirage gets tangled up in electrical wires hanging from a slanted telephone pole.

Lockdown: "Predictable..."

Lockdown runs towards the injured spy, jumps up and attempts to finish him off.

Mirage: "N-No!"

He cuts himself outta the wires and quickly 'disappears' afterwards.

Lockdown: "What!?"

The robotic assassin flies pass the wires the red spy was entangled in.

Mirage: "Hah!"

Mirage 'reappears', jumps up, deploys his hooks and attaches them to Lockdown's back.

Lockdown: "Gah!"

The agitated killer attempts to loosen them off his back. As he does so, he's suddenly pulled back, and then smacked into various light-poles and telephone-poles around the area.

Lockdown: "Ngh! Ah! Hm! You're... Cloaked!"

Mirage takes further advantage of his invisibility by pulling the him towards himself, turning the killer around in the process, and then punches him straight in his head-gasket.

Mirage: "Not as predictable as you think!"

The stealthy Autobot then knees the bounty hunter in the chest and then smacks him straight onto the ground, as hard as he can.

Lockdown: "Agh! G-Grrr..."

Lockdown crashed onto the ground, head-gasket first. After a bit, he stands himself up on one knee, holding himself up with his arm-cannon while Mirage lands on both feet. Deactivating his cloaking ability afterwards.

Lockdown: "You'll both succumb to my spark-extractor eventually and when you do, you'll both be extinguished for good... And added to my collection."

The angered mercenary threatens, as he repositions himself. Meanwhile, Sideswipe quickly stands up and lunges at the deadly killer.

Sideswipe: "Think again, fool! Haaaaa!"

As he's about to kick him in the back, Lockdown grabs him by his tire and pins him against the building next to them.

Lockdown: "Today you perish, Autobots! Rebel scum!"

His arm transforms into his spark-extractor once again and is about to use it against the pinned swordsman.

Mirage: "S-Sideswipe!"

Mirage runs up to Lockdown and grabs ahold his weapon. Attempting to face it in another direction, away from Sideswipe. Who then manages to escape Lockdown's grasp.

Lockdown: "Huh!? Grrrr..."

He looks at red spy, bothered by his interference as well as his uselessness.

Lockdown: "You should've given me HIS location when you had the chance..."

The bounty hunter pushes him back, then afterwards, deploys his signature hook in his other hand.

Sideswipe: "Ha! Ain't no Energon scooper gonna scare us!"

He raises his swords up, ready to fight. Swords against hook.

Sideswipe: "Bring it!

Lockdown smirks at the Autobot's insistence.

Lockdown: "As you wish, Autobot.*

They both jump at each other, with Mirage leaping at him from behind.

Lockdown: "Back off!"

He kicks Sideswipe, sending him backwards.

Lockdown: "Now, GET OVER HERE!"

As he falls back in the other direction, Lockdown impales the silver Autobot's chest with his hook and smacks him straight into the ground.

Sideswipe: "Gah! H-Hmph!"

He stands up as fast as he can and attempts to impale him with his right sword.

Lockdown: "Hah!"

The merciless bounty hunter counters it with his hook.

Sideswipe: "Not bad!"

The brave swordmans says. After that, he begins charging towards his enemy at full speed.

Sideswipe: "Let's see how you handle THIS!"

The Autobot slices and dices his weapons at the assassin incredibly fast, attempting to make scrap-metal out of his enemy.

Lockdown: "Do not get my hopes of having a REAL challenge up!"

Just like before, the dark grey bounty hunter counters each attack with his hook. Even managing to match the speed of Sideswipe's ferocious attacks.

Lockdown: "Hmph!"

Lockdown manages to grip Sideswipe's husk using his hook, holding him in place, and sticks his spark-extractor in his face. About to use it on the 'captured' Autobot.

Sideswipe: "Ngh… Take this!"

Sideswipe lunges his sword at his chest. Lockdown attempts to dodge it by moving aside. However, he's not quick enough to avoid the inevitable pain. The swordsman manages to stab him in his shoulder-piece and afterwards, brings his sword all the way up out of that part of the bounty hunter's husk. As a result, the spiky rockets on his right arm are left dangling off.

Lockdown: "NGH!"

He grips onto his fresh wound. Sparks and smoke begin emitting from his shoulder-piece.

Mirage: "Don't let your guard down, bounty hunter!"

The spy charges forward, kicks him in his tailpipe and sticks his right blade in his back.

Lockdown: "N-NGH!"

The assassin tries to rip Mirage's blade off his back.

Mirage: "Allow me the honor!"

He tears it out, causing the right headlight on Lockdown's back to fall off. One of his rear vents dangle off as well.

Lockdown: "G-GRRR!"

The angered bounty hunter turns around, smacks Mirage in the face with his weapon and almost fires it at the Autobot until-

Sideswipe: "Nice try!"

The silver swordsman bodyslams the weapon out of the way and stabs him in the abdomen.

Mirage: "Huh!"

The red spy jumps off Lockdown, causing him to stumble back into Sideswipe, who then retracts his sword to smack the mercenary in the back of his head-gasket.

Mirage: "Huh? Hmph!"

He notices an exposed steel rod from a nearby building and removes it.

Sideswipe: "Hehe! That could be useful, 'rage! Why don't you test it out?*

Sideswipe suggests, smirking. Mirage obliges the fellow Autobot and smacks Lockdown in the face with it He proceeds to kick Lockdown on one knee, so Mirage can easily inflict more hits on him with the rod.

Mirage: "How! Does! that! Feel! Huh? Mercenary?"

He continues to smack the assassin in the face. He throws the rod at the swordsman, so he could join in on the fun.

Sideswipe: "This! Is! For! All! The Transformers! And other beings! You've taken out!"

Lockdown proceeds to keep his head facing toward the ground during the entire smackdown, suspiciously.

Sideswipe: "Can you do the honors, bro?"

He asks, tossing the rod to his partner, who nods his head.

Mirage: "Goodbye, terminator! This is for all the sparks you've destroyed across the universe!"

As he swings the weapon forward, attempting to finish him off, Lockdown retracts his hook and catches it with his hand, holding it in place.

Sideswipe: "Huh!? What happened!?"

Mirage stares at Lockdown's arm, worried.

Mirage: "U-Ummm..."

Lockdown then looks up at his would-be killer and smirks.

Lockdown: "Believing in false hope sure is a pain in the neck-guard, isn't it?"

Both of the Autobots' optics widen, absolutely speechless of what has just occurred.

Lockdown: "No need to speak..."

He tears the rod from Mirage's hand and jams it into the spy's chest.

Lockdown: "You won't need to when you cease to function."

Mirage falls back onto a building and attempts to pull the rod out.

Mirage: "N-Nghhh..."

Mirage's blue optics begin to flicker. Sideswipe looks at his impaled friend, concerned.

Sideswipe: "Mirage!"

He attempts to skate over to the red spy to offer his aid. However, as he approaches his ally, he's tripped off his wheels by the deadly bounty hunter.

Sideswipe: "Ugh!"

He lands on his back. As he attempts to get back up, Lockdown forces the swordsman to stay down on ground using his left hand

Lockdown: "Don't worry, Autobot..."

The bounty hunter raises his spark-extractor up in the air, with the spiked-covered barrel facing toward the silver warrior.

Mirage: "N-NO!"

Mirage tears the rod out and leaps at Lockdown with his blades deployed, attempting to save his brother-in-arms.

Lockdown: "Your spark will be safe with me!"

He jams his spark-extractor into Sideswipe's chest before the Autobot could escape while smacking Mirage in the process with his left fist. After no longer needing it to pin the swordsman down.

Mirage: "NOOOOOOO!"

Mirage lands on the ground after that hit and slams his fists onto the pavement.

Sideswipe: "U-UGH..."

The silver Autobot faces down to see the weapon purged into his chest.

Sideswipe: "N-Ngh..."

Afterwards, he looks at his blade-wielding friend, who has a look of defeat in his optics.

Sideswipe: " 'Rage... D-Don't blame yourself. You did... W-What you could. We all did."

The silver swordsman explains to his good friend.

Sideswipe: "I-I'm sorry... B-Brother... But... S-Sounds like the Allspark's… C-Calling me home."

He closes his optics, as his husk begins to fill with a mixture of sadness, anger... And relief.

Even though the brave warrior is at the mercy of the sparkless bounty hunter and is about to perish, he suddenly remembers one important fact that puts him at ease. His spark will not have been extinguished in vain.

The Autobot did his part in making his leader proud and doing good for both planets he, along with the rest of the Autobots, called... Home.

Of course, he couldn't have done so without the help of his fellow Autobots. Whom the sword-wielding Autobot considers... Family. Now, more than ever. Which is something Sideswipe has secretly longed to have... All these years. Even though he's leaving his good friend behind in this war-zone, he knows he'll be reunited with him... And they'll finally be at peace... Alongside every other Autobot that has done good with their lives.

Mirage: "..."

Mirage shakes his head, unable to process what has been done to his ally.

Sideswipe: "Thanks for-"

The wounded warrior coughs, spewing out a lot of Energon. Afterwards, he smiles at the fellow Autobot, who is devastated by this.

Sideswipe: "Tryin' to help your fellow 'Bot out. Till all... A-Are... O-O-One."

He salutes at Mirage, which saddens the red spy even more. He looks at bounty hunter and admits his final words.

Sideswipe: "Y-You ain't... Ever gonna find... P-Prime. You... P-Punkass bounty hunter."

His spark transitions into Lockdown's spark-extractor. The optics on the swordsman lose it's blue color and his head of slumps forward. Extinguishing the brave Autobot… Forever.

Lockdown: "Hmph... Said the pile of dead metal."

He raises Sideswipe's lifeless husk up in the air and takes the time examine his latest kill.

Lockdown: "You two displayed more than I expected from Prime's minions. I must admit, I underestimated your kind."

He lifts Sideswipe's head up, only to let it fall down again. As soon as Mirage sees the corpse of his once good friend, he begins to recollect all the memories he's had with extinguished Autobot.

Mirage: "S-Sideswipe..."

The saddened spy remembers the time he accidentally crash landed in Italy. The place where Sideswipe aided in his search for a new vehicle mode.

Mirage: "My good friend..."

He recalls the time when Sideswipe reintroduced him to their the rest of the Autobots as well as their leader, Optimus Prime, after all these years since the destruction of Cybertron.

Mirage: "Is now nothing but a memory..."

The betrayal of Sentinel Prime along with deadly 'Battle of Chicago' comes to his mind, the biggest battle the Autobots' have been through since the Great War.

Fighting alongside Sideswipe, slicing and dicing Decepticon protoforms apart, from blade to sword. Being captured at the hands of the Decepticons, witnessing the destruction of another good friend, only to be freed to, once again, to battle more forces that stand in their way.

Mirage: "Because of..."

Finally, the red spy reminisces when the two were hiding out in the parking lot of an old, run-down housing project. All the bickering and banter between the two, the mental and physical pain between them, the bonding.

Mirage wouldn't have admitted this at the time, but Sideswipe was the best companion Mirage has ever had throughout his lifespan. All the anger and stressful times between the two were always redeemed with humor and overall, good times.

To make matters even more depressing for the red spy... That memory... Happened only a couple of hours ago. The last time they truly had a moment of peace.

Mirage: "... YOU!"

Mirage shouts, as he begins to tremble violently due to his friend's assassin standing right in front of him.

Lockdown: "Hmph..."

Lockdown takes his optics off his new trophy and looks at the troubled Autobot.

Lockdown: "Stay down, Autobot... For your own sake."

Mirage looks at his hands and clutches them both.

Mirage: "I'll show you what it truly means..."

Looks up at Lockdown, filled with rage and a lust for Energon... HIS Energon.

Mirage: "TO BE AN AUTOBOT, MERCENARY!"

He transforms into his vehicle mode and boosts toward Lockdown.

Lockdown: "Hehe..."

He repositions himself to face toward Mirage, who then jumps up and transforms. With his blades ready to strike.

Mirage: "G-GRAHHH!"

Lockdown swiftly slings his hook up and stabs Mirage in the neck-guard. Which goes so far up his head, it punctures his brain-module.

Mirage: "Ugh!"

The injured spy manages to detach his blades and stick them into Lockdown's chest, as his last attempt to inflict more pain onto the bounty hunter.

Lockdown: "Ngh!"

He looks down at the blades and then back at Mirage. His optics begin flickering again and slowly begin to power off.

Mirage: "H-Hehe... W-Well... At least I managed to... Stick it to you."

He gets a good look at Sideswipe one last time.

Mirage: "T-That was for... Y-You... Brother. I'm ready to join with the Allspark... A-And be reunited with... E-Everyone."

Mirage looks up at the sky... And in his own optics, he can see the great source of power which 'gave birth' to them all. Along with... A fully repaired Cybertron and fallen friends that he hasn't seen for millennia. He even sees... Sideswipe. They wave at him to come join them in eternal peace and he gladly embraces the welcoming. Anything to see his friends once more.

Mirage: "Till all... are one."

Mirage optics shut down and his head falls forward, putting an end to the spy once... And for all.

Lockdown: "How noble of you... Hm."

He looks at the weapons stuck into his chest.

Lockdown: "I think I'll keep those... As a remembrance to this fight."

Lockdown calls something using the screen on his battle mask.

Lockdown: "Hmph... It's a shame you two had to be extinguished. Not only were you valuable fighters, but you two carried vital information, information that the 'creators' and I needed to know. Oh well... There's still plenty more of you hiding out there that have what I need."

A gigantic ship appears from the clouds and hovers over him.

Lockdown: "Your lifeless husks will serve as perfect trophies to add alongside my collection of... Cybertronian Knights."

He walks toward the ship, dragging Mirage's husk on the ground and carrying Sideswipe's up in the air with his spark-extractor.

Lockdown: "I will find you eventually, Optimus Prime... Sooner or later. You WILL be part of my collection and then, you will belong to THEM once more."

The End... OR IS IT!?

* * *

Authorz Note:

Wait, what!? This ain't the end of this amateur-ass Transformer story!?

Nope, it's not. I've decided to make TWO endings to my Mirage and Sideswipe story. One where they... Well, you just read what happened... And one where they survive! I figured that simply killing them off wouldn't float well with a lot of youz (Including myself. I personally like to believe that, they survived the events between DOTM and AOE). So, I decided to make one where they emerge victoriouz! Well, kinda... That should be coming out fairly soon, so be on the lookout for that!

As for 'The Fates of our Robotic Heroes - Part 1'. Well, things didn't turn out as well as our Autobot heroes would've liked. Despite all their retaliations against the deadly bounty, they eventually DID succumb to Lockdown's weapon and perished at his hands. Well, Sideswipe succumbed to his weapon. Mirage... Finds Lockdown a real pain in the neck at the moment... I know, that was corny asf. But hey, did you catch that foreshadowing mentioned by Lockdown before he took them both out? There's two, actually. No? Ok...

Well anyway, as mentioned before, this isn't the end of our robotic heroes, so keep your eye out for the next chapter of 'A Mirage of Trust, a Sideswipe of betrayal, and the Shutdown of Hope'. That next chapter being 'The Fates of our Robotic Heroes - Part 2'! As always, stay tuned and take it easy mah fellow readerz!

* * *

Transformers and all related characters belong to Hasbro. This story was written solely for entertainment and I do not make a profit off it.


	4. The Fates of our Robotic Heroes (Ending)

Authorz Note:

Wuz good mah fellow readerz! I hope you're all doing good as always.

To my surprise, two other people have taken interest in my story and toke the time to favorite and follow it! I can't believe this. My corny story's actually getting some recognition!? That's just crazy. Anyway, before I ramble on, I'd like to thank Wacko12 for adding my story to their favorite stories category and ElizellaGalaxyPrime for following this joint! I'm very thankfully for that, you twoz! Despite it being short, I hope it was worth the read! If it wasn't... Then oh well 😅

So, as you can see, we're nearing the end of 'a Mirage of Trust, a Sideswipe of Betrayal, and the Shutdown of Hope'. As I mentioned before, I know this story isn't as lengthy as some of you might have been expecting but I will try to improve upon that in the future. This story is the first I've ever published and I'm still an amateur when it comes to this stuff.

Honestly though, thinking about it for a moment, I feel as if a fight with a heavily trained mercenary such as Lockdown against any members of the Autobots wouldn't last long. Despite how skilled they may be. I mean, just look how quickly he took out... Well, if you've see Age of Extinction, you'll know who I'm referring to. I know 'that' Autobot wasn't a warrior and he was already getting whooped by Cemetery Wind. I'm not saying the Autobots don't have a chance against Lockdown. Trust me, a good amount of them do. But, then again, a good amount of them don't. I mean, he whooped Prime's ass in his debut movie and would've killed him if it wasn't for the humans! That says a lot about Lockdown. Who knows who else he's gone up against and won...

Anyway, since this is the conclusion to my story and the second part of 'the Fates of our Robotic Heroes, this should hopefully satisfy those who didn't like the outcome of the first part. So don't worry, this will end up a lot better than the first round of the battle. Just like before though, the action will be pretty intense and may catch you by surprise. So be prepared for blood, guts and all around mayhem! Wait... They're robots so they don't have blood and guts. Well, Energon and gears will be splattered all over the damn place!

So finally, I'll shut my loud ass mouth up and let you read the conclusion to my Mirage and Sideswipe story! Hope you enjoyz!

* * *

Chapter 3 - The Fates of our Robotic Heroes (Ending)

Autobots, Mirage and Sideswipe, have just been through a high speed chase with the human subdivision known as Cemetery Wind and luckily, have defeated the lot of them. However, they weren't their only pursuers, as a merciless Cybertronian bounty hunter was also hot on their tail. Cornered and heavily damaged by their attacker, the two Autobots are at the mercy of Lockdown, who demands the location of Optimus Prime. Will our robotic heroes perish in an attempt to conceal their leader's position? ... Or will they function to see another day?

Lockdown: "Make your decision wisely. You either tell me the location of your leader... Or..."

The mercenary sticks his face as well his weapon into the red spy's face. He charges up his weapon, which glows from within, and points the barrel toward the injured Autobot.

Mirage: "Hmph..."

Mirage, still in pain, clutches his fists, put his foot forward and looks him directly in his optics.

Mirage: "Over my sparkless husk..."

He assures him, coldly. Lockdown stares at him, giving him the most menacing look possible.

Lockdown: "... That's the idea, Autobot."

He replies, deploying his battle-mask.

Lockdown: "Hmph!"

The bounty hunter quickly steps forward and attempts to impale Mirage in the chest, but the Autobot manages to stop the deadly weapon and hold it in place with his hands.

Mirage: "M-My idea in mind is a little different!"

He jumps up onto his spark-extractor, managing to balance himself on the weapon for a few seconds, and then does a backflip off it, kicking the mercenary in the face.

Lockdown: "Ugh!"

The disoriented assassin stumbles back in the way of Sideswipe, while Mirage lands on the ground.

Sideswipe: "Watch yo' back, bounty hunter!"

The silver swordsman skates up to Lockdown and bodyslams him forward, causing him to slip into Mirage's path.

Mirage: "Haaah!"

They red spy deploys his blades, jumps up and slashes him in the face, leaving nasty marks.

Lockdown: "Gah!"

He holds onto his face in agony. After a bit, he removes his hand and as he does, Energon drips onto his palm.

Sideswipe: "Eugh, you gonna feel that one in the morning!"

The sword-wielding Autobot says, making a snide remark about his enemy's new battle scar. All while having a big grin on his face.

Lockdown: "Ngh..."

Lockdown's face grows a scowl as his anger grows. That comment only adds insult to injury... Literally.

Lockdown: "... Your sparks are MINE!"

The furious bounty hunter shouts, as clutches his right fist. He begins to charge forward into the Autobots in order to deal with them both at the same time.

Both Autobots: "WOAH!"

The brave warriors both roll out of the way of his fury.

Mirage: "Hmph!"

The agile spy quickly transforms into his Ferrari mode and begins to drive toward the angered mercenary.

Lockdown: "Grrr!"

Lockdown reverts to his arm-cannon and begins firing it as the red Autobot drives toward his direction.

Mirage: "Hm!"

Mirage swerves to avoid all the shots from the cannon, then drifts to the left, and trips the bounty hunter.

Lockdown: "Ngh!"

He grunts, as he collapses to the ground.

Sideswipe: "Hehe! My turn!"

Sideswipe transforms into his Corvette mode and rams into the bounty hunter's weapon, preventing him from firing it at Mirage.

Lockdown: "Huh!? Hm!"

Afterwards, he repositions his weapon's sights to aim at the swordsman... Until-

Mirage: "Heads up!"

The red super car lifts off the ground and smashes right into Lockdown's face, causing him great agony and pieces of himself to fall apart.

Lockdown: "NGAH!"

Trying to ignore the pain, he struggles to recover his bearings.

Meanwhile, Sideswipe transforms into his robot form, jumps up as high as he can, and transforms back while allowing his vehicle mode smack down onto Lockdown's chest.

Lockdown: "G-Gahhhh!"

The silver Autobot begins revving his LS-Series V8 engine, making a lot of noise.

Sideswipe: "You felt that, bounty hunter!? How 'bout this!?"

He then proceeds to perform a burnout on Lockdown.

Sideswipe: "Ha! I finally get to sign my work... On your FACE!"

The warrior admits, with much joy. Large clouds of smoke engulf Lockdown's face, obstructing his line of vision along with his sensors.

Sideswipe: "This right here, is mercy compared to what you've done to those that've crossed your path across our planet!"

Mirage drives on top of Lockdown's legs, keeping them still while Sideswipe continues burning rubber on his face.

Lockdown: "G-Get off of me!"

After suffering the burnt rubber from Sideswipe's tires for long enough, Lockdown punches Sideswipe off him, kicks Mirage off him and quickly stands up with the help of his arm-cannon. He also wipes his face of the tire-marks left by the swordsman, which were obscuring his optics.

Sideswipe: "Ugh!"

He ends up spinning into the side of an abandoned bus station.

Mirage: "Ha!"

As Mirage returns to the ground, he performs a full 360, turning himself around to ram at Lockdown once again. The bounty hunter notices this and is ready to retaliate against his prey. Lockdown deploys his hook and attaches it onto to Mirage's axle. He then lifts the Ferrari 458 Italia up in the air and smashes the spy into the ground.

Mirage: "Ugh!"

Due to hitting the ground with so much force, the Autobot is forced to transform back into his robot form. With his back to the pavement.

Sideswipe: "Ugh... Huh? Yo! No-one smacks down my brother like that!"

Sideswipe boosts forward and leaps up to smash into Lockdown's face...

Lockdown: "Hmph!"

Lockdown withdraws his hook, sticks his hand out, while Sideswipe's in mid-air, and grabs onto the front-end of his vehicle form.

Sideswipe: "W-Woah! What the!?"

The bounty hunter smirks, takes the Autobot while in his Corvette Stingray mode, and begins smashing him against buildings and other vehicles nearby.

Sideswipe: "AH! NGH! GAH!"

Lockdown retracts his arm-cannon, knees Sideswipe's undercarriage, and then grabs ahold of him with both hands.

Lockdown: "I'll be keeping a piece of you to remember you by... In fact, two will suffice!"

The red spy stands up after beginning knocked to the ground and quickly knocks Sideswipe out of his hands.

Mirage: "Not while I'm around!"

The silver swordsman transforms back into his robot form and lands on the ground, using his hand to stop him from sliding away.

Sideswipe: "Ugh. Thanks, bro! Now then, let's finish business!"

Mirage looks at him and nods his head while Sideswipe deploys his swords.

Mirage: "I don't know how we're going to take him down, but I guess it's worth a try!"

The red spy deploys his hooks instead of his blades and is ready to use them against their foe.

Sideswipe: "Don't think like that, man! Sure, he's big, he's bad, he's got better firepower than us... Probably has better EVERYTHING than us... But it's either we try and take him out now or we go down trying!"

The red Autobot looks at his silver-colored friend, confused.

Mirage: "That... Doesn't even make any sense but... Ugh, forget it! Let's just see what happens!"

Mirage sticks his hooks out and charges towards Lockdown.

Sideswipe: "It sounded better in my head-gasket!"

Sideswipe skates forward and put his blades to his sides.

Mirage: "Hold onto these for me, bounty hunter!"

As the grey mercenary attempts to deploy his spark-extractor, Mirage jumps up and swings his hooks onto Lockdown's chest.

Mirage: "Now let's take the one way street into this building right over here!"

He brings him forward and smacks him into one of the nearby buildings.

Sideswipe: "And allow ME to show you a tour of this parking deck right here!"

Sideswipe jumps onto Lockdown's back and swings him into an abandoned parking deck. Knocking an old red and white ambulance off of it in the process.

Mirage: "You might want to jump off, Sideswipe."

Sideswipe nods at his friend's suggestion and leaps off Lockdown's back.

Mirage: "Because I would like our bounty hunter 'friend' to get acquainted with the pavement!"

Mirage jumps up again, causing Lockdown to flip up in the air and then swings him forward, smashing him face-first onto the street.

Lockdown: "UGH! Grrr..."

The grey assassin's anger grows as he drills his fists into the ground. Attempting to stand back up.

Sideswipe: "Ha! Nice one 'rage!"

The spy lands on the ground and nods his head.

Sideswipe: "Get him on knees... I'd like to get a last look at our 'good friend'."

The swordsman sticks his right sword up as Mirage pulls the bounty hunter back up to face his silver-colored ally.

Sideswipe: "For all the sparks you've extinguished throughout your journey..."

Lockdown sees himself in the reflection of Sideswipe's sword and smirks. The Autobot raises his weapon up in the air, ready to finish the job.

Sideswipe: "They will now finally be able to rust in peace knowing that... As the humans say, your ass is grass!"

He looks up at the Autobot, who is attempting to decapitate him using his sword.

Lockdown: "NO!"

The bounty hunter grabs ahold of the Autobot's sword while in mid-air.

Sideswipe: "Eugh! What the!?"

He looks down as the bounty hunter begins to chuckle.

Lockdown: "I beg to differ, Autobot..."

Lockdown rips apart Sideswipe's sword from his arm, along with a good chunk of pieces that were also apart of his arm.

Sideswipe: "AHHH!"

Sideswipe falls back onto a deserted school bus and holds his arm in pain. Sparks begin to flicker and Energon starts leaking out of his wounds.

Lockdown: "Come here!"

He swings Mirage forward and uses Sideswipe's torn off sword to cut the hooks off his chest.

Mirage: "Ngh!"

The red Autobot crashes onto the ground in front of Lockdown.

Lockdown: "You Autobots have more to you than meets the eye."

He walks over to the downed Autobot, who is laying face-first on the ground.

Lockdown: "I will give you THAT much."

He flips him over, grabs ahold of his chest and picks him up.

Lockdown: "You both have my momentary respect... Unfortunately... That is all you will get from me."

Lockdown then proceeds to impale Mirage with the sword from Sideswipe's arm.

Mirage: "GAHHH!"

He leaves it in the Autobot's husk for a moment and then violently tears it out. Afterwards he throws him onto the ground.

Lockdown: "Do not fear, Autobots."

Deploys his spark-extractor, along with the pointed spikes around the barrel.

Lockdown: "Your husks won't go to waste... They along with your sparks shall serve well in my collection!"

Before the bounty hunter can tear out the spy's spark, he all of a sudden feels a sharp pain coming from his back. Which progressively begins to hurt more and more. He looks down and sees Energon dripping from his chest.

Lockdown: "U-Ugh! What-!?"

He turns around to see the injured Sideswipe behind him, with his left sword stuck into his back.

Sideswipe: "U-Ugh... S-Still got the other one... H-Hehe."

Lockdown's anger reaches it's peak, as retracts his spark-extractor and immediately grabs Sideswipe's right door-panel on his back.

Lockdown: "D-Disregard what I just said!"

He then throws both of the Autobots onto the building in front on them.

Lockdown: "You will instead PERISH by other means!"

Lockdown's face then begins to transform into a giant cannon, which he aims at the wounded warriors.

Sideswipe: "Oh... S-S-Scrap-"

Lockdown fires the weapon at the Autobots, causing them to fly up in the air and then come tumbling down onto the pavement behind him.

Both Autobots: "GAHHH!"

Mirage's right arm rips off his husk. He holds the area where it use to be in agony.

Sideswipe: "M-MIRAGE! Ugh..."

Sideswipe's right door-panel falls off him while his other one dangles downward.

Mirage: "U-Ugh! We need to... Retreat!"

Sideswipe stands up and shakes his head 'no'.

Sideswipe: "I'm gettin' a few more hits on him... B-Before I'm running away! S-Scrap That!"

Despite his wounds, Mirage quickly stands up and blocks his friend's path. In order to prevent him from doing something foolish while heavily injured. His left blade falls off from his arm in doing so.

Mirage: "You... Idiot! He'll end you in a second! I'm not going to let you-"

Sideswipe disregards Mirage's warning and pushes him out of the way.

Mirage: "... He has ball-bearings, I'll give him that."

He rolls his optics and chases after him.

Mirage: "I have to get us out of here or we're done for."

Sideswipe skates toward Lockdown as fast as he can.

Sideswipe: "I-I ain't finished with you... bounty hunter freak!"

Lockdown gets into a fighting stance and charges up his face-cannon.

Mirage: "Sideswipe, look out!"

Lockdown continues firing at Sideswipe, but the swordsman manages perform a flip in mid-air, fires his back-mounted cannons at the bounty hunter, causing him to painfully stumble, and lands on the ground.

Sideswipe: "Missed me!"

He skates toward him once again. Lockdown fires some more shots at him, but the Autobot manages dodge them in time. Despite his poor condition.

Sideswipe: "Hmph!"

He jumps up onto the mercenary and hangs off his face-cannon using one arm.

Sideswipe: "Hm! Ha! Ngh! Hmph!"

The Autobot then proceeds to stab into his chest multiple times, all while the bounty hunter continues firing his cannon, struggling to get the swordsman off him.

Sideswipe: "Hah!"

He lets go and kicks his face-cannon upward, causing the bounty hunter to step backwards.

Sideswipe: "Huh? Heh!"

He spots his torn off sword on the ground and picks it up.

Sideswipe: "This is whatcha' call KARMA!"

He flips it up in the air, catches it, and then throws it toward the barrel of Lockdown's face-cannon.

Lockdown: "GRAHHH!"

The throw leads to a direct-hit, which causes the cannon to explode from within, rendering it useless... For now.

Sideswipe: "Haha! You ain't so...B-Badass without your weird face-gun, huh!?"

The loud-mouth Autobot exclaims, holding his chest in pain.

However, as Sideswipe takes a moment of glory to himself, Lockdown's face proceeds to revert back to his battle-mask, suspiciously.

Lockdown: "If I am destroyed..."

A screen displays on the bounty hunter's mask and he selects something from it.

Lockdown: "SO SHALL YOU BE, AUTOBOTS!"

A large, menacing, and ancient-looking ship suddenly appears from the clouds.

Sideswipe: "U-Uh oh... That ain't good."

Multiple cannons deploy from the bottom of the ship and aim directly toward the wounded swordsman.

Sideswipe: "S-Shoulda stayed my tailpipe in that parking lot..."

They commence fire upon him. However, as they're about to make direct contact with the Autobot, Mirage shoves Sideswipe out the line of fire.

Both Autobots: "Ngh!"

They land on the ground, avoiding the loss of an ally in the nick of time.

Mirage: "You got your hits in? Good! Now let's GO!"

He nods his head in agreement without hesitation.

Sideswipe: "D-Don't worry I'm going this time!"

They start running/skating away as the ship chases after them. As they try to escape from the heavy amount of gunfire, they attempt to transform into their vehicle modes. The vehicle parts on their husks move, but for some reason, they do not change forms.

Mirage: "W-What!? Oh no... Our T-Cogs have gotten too damaged to function! W-We can't drive away from this!"

Sideswipe looks at Mirage in utter shock.

Sideswipe: "You mean that thing inside of us that allows us to transform? Damn, we really are scrapped!"

The red spy attempts to activate his cloaking ability to turn himself invisible... But to no avail. It appears to have also been damaged during the fight. Mirage presses on despite the overwhelming odds.

Mirage: "No, we're not! We still... F-Function! Just keep... R-Running!"

Mirage holds the section where his arm was blown off while he limps away as fast as he can.

Sideswipe: "U-Ughhh!"

His right arm is still sparking and leaking Energon badly. He holds it in immense pain.

Mirage: "Follow me through here!"

The two run through various streets, parking lots and alleyways to evade the ship's firepower.

Mirage: "Make a break for this green area here!"

They leave the concrete jungle and head for a heavily wooded park nearby.

Sideswipe: "W-Woah!"

A couple of shots almost make a direct-hit on both of them but the dense forestation prevent that from happening.

Mirage: "Huh!? Watch yourself here!"

Multiple trees fall down as a result from the blasts.

Both Autobots: "Hm!"

They jump over them, still managing to avoid the tremendous firepower.

Mirage: "Hm! Hew! Ngh!"

He slashes through trees blocking their way with a pointed weapon in his left hand.

Sideswipe: "W-Wait, what?"

The Autobot spots the object in his friend's hand. He could've sworn that the red spy lost both of his arm-blades during the battle.

Mirage: "Hm?"

He sees in front of them a large tunnel up ahead.

Mirage: "Sideswipe! Head for that tunnel over there! Quickly!"

As the silver swordsman attempts to catch up to his spy friend, he trips over an old school 1980s Lamborghini Countach.

Sideswipe: "U-Ugh! Huh!? Oh, that's a nice ride!"

He considers scanning it, not only to obtain a nice, new vehicle mode but to repair his robot mode as well.

Mirage: "There's no time for that! Now, get up and keep runnin- Uhhh... Skating!"

Mirage demands as grabs onto Sideswipe's hand to help him stand up. The sword-wielding Autobot nods his head as they both make haste for the tunnel.

Lockdown: "They will not escape from my WRAITH!"

The Autobots look behind them and spot a smaller but still fairly large ship catching up to them.

Sideswipe: "Aw, scrap! I think that's him again!"

The wounded spy shakes his head and ignores the bounty hunter presence.

Mirage: "Don't worry about him! Just get to that tunnel!"

They're nearing the tunnel, but as they're about to enter it-

Lockdown: "Farewell, you wretched... fugitive... SCUM!"

The outraged bounty hunter fires missiles from his ship and they launch directly toward our heroes.

Both Autobots: "Huh-AGH!"

The missiles explode and destroy the entrance to the tunnel. Leaving heavy amounts of smoke and debris everywhere. The grey mercenary scans the area for any signs of life. After awhile... Nothing comes up on his screen.

Lockdown: "Finally... I can feel some sort of satisfaction... Knowing that those two are a smoldering pile of scrap-metal.*

He flies up and rejoins with the larger ship. The satisfied bounty hunter exits the mini-ship and walks over to the cockpit of the main ship.

After preparing the coordinates for his next location and alerting his fellow mercenaries aboard his ship about their next hunt, he flies off at a high rate of speed.

Lockdown: "Perhaps this will cause HIM to come out of hiding... Knowing that more of his minions have perished before me. Once he does, he will belong to ME! And once I'm finished on this planet... The 'creators' will soon have their 'creation' back."

* * *

A couple of hours later, inside of the dark and heavily damaged tunnel.

* * *

...

Toward the center of the passageway, dripping water along falling debris can be heard. Once and awhile, cars speeding away from the area can be heard through the vents inside of the tunnel. Cracks on the pavement strangely resemble creepy looking faces looking back at you. Smiling with an evil looking grin.

However, amongst the darkness, a slight rumbling can be heard along with faint voices. They seem to be coming closer and closer, as they begin to sound more ghastly. The ground begins to tremble more and more as something nears closer toward the center of the tunnel. The voices become louder and more audible while giant, terrifying footsteps causes some rats to run away in fear.

Shadows of giant beings appear on the walls nearby and once voice begins to shout in pain. Taking a closer look, the loud and intimidating monsters appear to be...

Sideswipe: "U-UGHHH... this hurts so badly."

The wounded swordsman grunts, as he struggles to sit down and have a quick power-down.

Mirage: "Do you need help?"

The battled-damaged spy asks, walking up to him to offer assistance.

Sideswipe: "N-Nah... I'm alright... Kinda.'

He attempts to turn on the taillights from his vehicle mode, to be able to see in the darkness.

Sideswipe: "Damn, they're both are busted."

He tries the headlights on his arms, only the left one works and it's very dim.

Sideswipe: "That ain't gonna help much. Hey 'rage, your lights work?"

Mirage tries to activate his set of his headlights.

Mirage: "The right one's almost useless but the other one's alright. It should give us some form of illumination while we're in here."

Sideswipe nods his head and sits down against the walls of the tunnel.

Sideswipe: "At least we got somethin' workin'. Ngh..."

He moves his husk around to make himself more comfortable as he's seated.

Sideswipe: "I'm not sure if I have piece of a missile stuck to my tailpipe or what but... Something hurts down there."

Mirage leans against the wall next to Sideswipe, still standing up.

Mirage: "I-I'm surprised we made it out alive. All that firepower... Should've extinguished us."

Sideswipe snickers at Mirage's surprised attitude.

Sideswipe: "Hey, you complaining? 'Cause I'm not! We made it out alive because that's what us Autobots were taught to do! Make it outta situations like that ALIVE!"

Mirage nods his head in agreement.

Mirage: "Of course... It's a good thing that missile only hit near us. If that would've been a direct hit... we would've been fried... Without question."

The spy is absolutely overwhelmed due to all that has happened to the both them.

Mirage: "Wow... We went up against the most deadliest bounty hunter in existence... And survived. Not many can say they've accomplished that, if any."

Sideswipe flails his arms up, feeling the awesome amount of glory from their unbelievable accomplishment.

Sideswipe: "Frag yeah, man! Even though we were 'outgunned' and 'outmatched', we still took his tailpipe DOWN! That's just freakin' awesome, man! It's like we were BORN to do that!"

Mirage looks away from his brother-in-arms momentarily.

Mirage: "Well, we kind of did... and kind of didn't in a way. Speaking of that last thing you said, Lockdown mentioned something about our 'creators' and something they've 'built'. I'm assuming he was talking about... Optimus? But how's that possible?"

Sideswipe waves his arm down in a 'That's just BS' way and scoffs at Lockdown's words.

Sideswipe: "It's not possible. Prime wasn't built, none of us were. He was just sputting out nonsense, trying to get us to give up his location. The Allspark is our life-force. The source from which ALL Transformers originate... And that's that."

Mirage looks at him like 😮.

Sideswipe: "What? Oh... Listen, I've studied more than a few stuff here and there back on Cybertron. I'm might be hot-headed but I'm not dumb.

The red Autobot chuckles a bit.

Mirage: "I'm just not used to the idea of you sounding smart. It's a little scary actually..."

Sideswipe rolls his optics, a little bit annoyed.

Sideswipe: "Yeah well... Get used to it."

Mirage laughs and looks at the pointed weapon he used earlier.

Mirage: "Oh, before I forget..."

He tosses the melee weapon to his good friend. Which happens to be Sideswipe's sword that was torn off from his arm.

Sideswipe: "Huh? Oh, so that's what you used to cut those green things with earlier! How'd you get it back?"

He puts his only hand on his hip and responds to his question.

Mirage: "I grabbed it before we started making a break for it. Since I didn't have any of my blades left, I had to use something as a weapon."

Sideswipe: "Ohhhhh... Sorry you couldn't get those back. I know they meant a lot to you."

Mirage shrugs a bit.

Mirage: "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. Just be happy I got your one back."

The silver Autobot smiles a little for what Mirage did for him.

Sideswipe: "Thanks, Mirage. Really appreciate this... Brother."

Mirage nods his head.

Sideswipe: "Not just for this but... For also saving my spark. If it wasn't for you, I'd be a silver pile of dead metal on the ground right about now. With my spark stuck inside of a freaky lookin' gun... Blade... Thing."

Thesp y shutters at the disturbing mental image.

Mirage: "Ugh... Well, be content that, that didn't happen to you... In this lifetime anyway."

😏.. What? Too soon? Oh, am I breaking the fourth wall? My bad... I'll shut up now.

Mirage: "If we can find and rendezvous with the others, hopefully we'll be able to get Ratchet to repair us. We're in desperate need of his medical attention..."

He grips onto his wound again, still suffering from the pain.

Sideswipe: "Yeah... That's if he's still around... He's always had our backs, especially back on Cybertron."

He attempts to attach his sword back on his arm but it immediately falls off as he tries.

Sideswipe: "Aw, man..."

Mirage lays his back against the wall.

Mirage: "Hopefully he's alright. As long as he stays hidden, he should be fine. Let's just hope that bounty hunter doesn't get to him before we do..."

Damn, if only they knew what would happen to the good old doctor later on 😭... What? Oh, my bad. Last time, I swear.

Sideswipe: "For now, let's just take a chill pill and relax. We've earned it."

Mirage sighs at Sideswipe's choice of words.

Mirage: "I'll never get over that human slang of yours..."

Sideswipe laughs at his friend's response.

Sideswipe: "Hey, I heard you say some things too! So don't be acting like you're all innocent!"

Mirage rolls his optics.

Mirage: "Yeah, yeah... I say those words better though."

Sideswipe: "Ha! You wanna bet?"

Mirage: "No... Just shut up and power-down already, dammit."

Sideswipe laughs and obliges his good friend... His true brother-in-arms... Or even just, brother.

No matter what foe decides to engage them in battle, one thing is for certain. These two warriors, led by the great Optimus Prime, will never back down from a fight. Their enemy may have superior firepower, an endless amount of skill, or an overall menacing appearance. Just like Lockdown, they may not completely defeat them, but their enemy won't walk away without a couple of scars and a memorable fight.

*Rest assured, these two will always put their lives on the line to protect one another or others close to them... No matter the cost. That's what being an AUTOBOT... Is all about.

After having a good chat with one another, the brave and nobel Autobots power-down for the rest of the day, knowing that their work is finally finished... For now.

The End... SYKE! Part 3's coming out-Nah, this is the end. For real this time.

* * *

Authorz Note:

Well, that concludes the story of 'a Mirage of Trust, a Sideswipe of Betrayal and- Blah, blah, blah. You know the rest. That title was too damn long, I know, but I wanted to fuse all of the character's names with the heading somehow. While not directly referring to a certain bounty hunter.

Get it? 'Shutdown of Hope'.

Shutdown.

Lockdown.

No? K. I tried.

Moving on, as you read, Mirage and Sideswipe toke the fight against Lockdown and luckily for them, the odds were in their favor this time around... Kinda. Yeah, they got pretty messed up even though they technically 'beat' Lockdown's tailpipe.

Mega pause on that.

They didn't exactly take him out like they planned to, but they did manage to destroy his face-cannon and escape his wraith. Which is a plus... Until, of course, he repairs his cannon later on. Yeah, the obvious reason as to why I didn't kill off Lockdown is because in order for this story to remain cannon with the movies, Lockdown would've have had to survive to be able to appear in his debut film. If he would've been destroyed, we wouldn't have had the best villain that the Michael Bay films has ever had since Megatron in the first film! In my opinion, of course. Then again, if the homies Mirage and Sideswipe would've gotten the chance to take his ass out, a certain Doctor would've been able to help them out and appear in later films. Oh well, the damage has been done and AOE's been out for almost 5 years now so... Yeah.

So, what's next after this? Well, I actually plan to publish some of my pre-made stories based off the Sonic Forces video game. The first in particular will be a remake of a certain Jackal's... 'Rebirth'. I won't give away too much, but expect a couple of stories based off that game coming in the near future.

Then after that... Well, you'll find out when all those stories are published. All I'll say about that is... The following story is gonna be the biggest thing I've ever written. Don't worry, I do plan on writing more Transformers stories in the future. Along with stories about other franchises as well.

A'ight, that's enough outta me. I hope you enjoyed this little Transformers story and be on the lookout for my future projects as well. You won't wanna miss them... Unless you wanna miss them. It's up to you.

If you liked this story, let me know by writing a review and tell me things like what you liked about it, your favorite part or what I can improve upon in the future!

As always, stay tuned and take care mah fellow readerz!

* * *

Transformers and all related characters belong to Hasbro. This story was written solely for entertainment and I do not make a profit off it.


	5. Statuz Update

Hey guys, remember me? DatWritaDude who's an amateur when it comes to story-writing and that's been gone for seven months? Yeah, I don't either.

First off, I just want to say that I greatly apologize for being absent for so long. I've been very busy since my last upload with various things in my personal life. Stuff like family matters, work, etc. A lot of things have been popping up recently. Thankfully, things have toned down a bit and I'm free to continue writing more stories for you guys that are still interested in my ideas. If you don't care, I can't say I blame you 😆.

Second off, I just want to let you all know that I have finished the story I teased at the end of my Transformers story. It is a Sonic the Hedgehog story and it is a remake of the origins of Infinite. Who's one of main villains from the Sonic Forces game. Unfortunately, it's not as long as you may think it is put I hope that it at least gives some more depth to the character, makes him more likable in a good or bad way, and also serves as a better origins story for the character than what was given to him in the game. Well, at least slightly better.

Third off, I want to announce that the Danny Phantom story I mentioned in my biography is put on hold for now. I've simply lost the motivation to begin that tale and to be honest, I'm almost considering canceling it. However, if you guys are really interested in reading it, then let me know through a private message or even a review. Though if it's via a review, make sure to put it as a side note.

Recently, I haven't gotten into a TV show that I vaguely remember watching a couple episodes of as a kid. That show being, Invader Zim. The dark, creepy, but strangely funny show about an alien trying to take over the Earth and failing miserably each time he tries. If you haven't seen it, I recommend watching it if you get a chance. It's definitely one of Nickelodeon's weirdest shows but the dark sense of humor and strange art style kind of appeals to me in a way. The show's so dark in fact, there's even moments in it where I question how it was ever allowed to be broadcast on Nick. Regardless, I gotta say it's definitely one of Nick's best cartoons that they've ever produced. I wouldn't say it's the best, but it's definitely on my top 5 list.

As you can probably tell, I plan on writing a story based upon the show. A story with a brand new character with his or her own lore. mahkrA.

I'm going to TRY to write this new character and the overall fanfic in the style of the show, but if it's a little too offbeat from the show, I'd like you to let me know by writing a review. If you want anyway. I ain't yo momma, don't what you want, ya dig? Damn, I'm cringy. I have finished the first chapter of it and I plan to upload after the Infinite Origins story. So if you're interested, I hope I won't disappoint!

Lastly, I just ask from you to please be patient with me, as I am trying to get back to story writing and giving you more to read from me. This month, I'm going to try to upload weekly, so if you're interested in reading my stories, this month you'll be able too. The next couple of stories will mostly be about Sonic, Invader Zim, and Transformers. Will I write about more series? Yes, but in the near future. I'll give you a hint on one of those series... It's hidden somewhere within one of these paragraphs. This Friday, the first chapter of the Infinite story will be posted, so stayed tuned for that!

So, that's all I have to say about all that! I hope you stick around to read my new stories and I will try to the best of my ability to make them worth reading. So for now, take care mah fellow readerz! Man, I sound like some stereotypical channel on YouTube.

Side Note/z: I've edited my Mirage and Sideswipe story by fixing all of the incorrect grammar, general mistakes, and removing all of the asterisks from the text. I thought they were pointless and my newer stories don't have those anymore. My future ones will lack those two. Just wanted to let youz know!


End file.
